Paul Tsongas

Paul Tsongas (14 February 1941-18 January 1997) was a member of the US Senate from Massachusetts (D) from 3 January 1979 to 2 January 1985, succeeding Edward Brooke and preceding John Kerry; he previously served as a member of the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts' 5th district from 3 January 1975 to 3 January 1979, succeeding Paul W. Cronin and preceding James Shannon.

Biography
Paul Tsongas was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1941, and he graduated from Yale Law School and the Kennedy School of Government. After working for the Peace Corps and an aide to Congressman F. Bradford Morse, Tsongas won election as a city councilor and county commissioner, and he won election to the US House of Representatives in 1974. In 1978, he defeated Edward Brooke in the US Senate race, and he became known as a social liberal and fiscal conservative. In 1983, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, forcing him to abandon hopes of re-election. In 1992, he sought the Democratic Party's nomination for president, winning in New Hampshire, but he later endorsed Bill Clinton. He died from pneumonia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1997 at the age of 55.